In today's networked and computerized communication environments, a number of different systems interact for performing related tasks. Typically, multiple levels of protocols are used to ensure correct and efficient exchange of information between different systems. For example, there are a number of messaging standards that enable exchange of information within specific industry segments. For example, HL7 (Health Level Seven) is a messaging standard commonly used in healthcare systems, EDI is a standard used in financial systems for exchanging information between different applications. These standards define a format for the transmission of health or finance related information. In these and similar standards, information is sent as a collection of one or more messages, each of which transmits a record or item. Examples of HL7 messages include patient records, laboratory records and billing information.
Message standards, such as HL7 in healthcare and EDI in financial systems, are naturally hierarchical and sequential in nature. That is to say that the message format is designed to be expressed as a hierarchical structure, not as a set of database rows. Further compounding this challenge in storing the messages in a database, is that messages often need to be merged along the same contextual axis in the sequence they were created to reflect the true status of the subject of the message.